SLOVENIA, FLAG OF

horizontally striped white-blue-red national flag with a coat of arms in the upper hoist corner. The flag's width-to-length ratio is 1 to 2. There are two sources for the white-blue-red colours of the Slovenian national flag. For its national ethnic banner Slovenia had adopted a copy of the Russian flag, to show solidarity with fellow Slavic peoples, at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Even earlier, however, the Holy Roman emperor had granted a coat of arms to the Crown Land of Carniola, which was then a part of the empire. This coat of arms featured a white shield bearing a blue eagle with a red-and-white checkered crescent on its breast. Another important coat of arms in Slovenian history was the one used by the county of Celjea blue shield with three yellow stars. Finally, under the communist regime of the 20th century, the coat of arms of Slovenia had blue and white wavy horizontal lines to suggest the Adriatic coast of the country, as well as a stylized three-peaked mountainSlovenia's highest, the famous Triglav. Slovenia proclaimed its independence on June 25, 1991, but had to fight against the Yugoslav army to establish its sovereignty. The flag raised on Independence Day was the traditional white-blue-red pan-Slavic tricolour. To distinguish it from the similar flags of Russia and Slovakia, the new coat of arms of Slovenia was added in the upper hoist corner overlapping the white and blue stripes. That shield features a combination of the Triglav and wavy stripes of the communist arms with the yellow stars on a blue background from the Celje shield. Whitney Smith History The Slovene lands to 1918 The Alpine Slavs During the 6th century AD, ancestors of the Slovenes, now referred to by historians as Alpine Slavs or proto-Slovenes, pushed up the Sava, Drava, and Mura river valleys into the Eastern Alps and the Karst. There they absorbed the existing Romano-Celtic-Illyrian cultures. At that time the Slavs owed allegiance to the Avar khans. After the defeat of the Avars by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, a Slavic kingdom emerged under Samo (reigned 623658) that extended from the Sava valley northward as far as Leipzig. It came under Frankish rule in 748. Over the next two centuries, Alpine Slavs living in present-day Austria and western Hungary were absorbed by waves of Bavarian and Magyar invaders, so that the Slovene linguistic boundaries contracted southward. Nevertheless, a Slovene tribal duchy, centred in Austria's Klagenfurt basin, managed to survive for some 200 years. Though it is still imperfectly understood, ancient Carantania (or Carinthia) serves as a symbol of nationhood for contemporary Slovenes. The Middle Ages In the 10th century, after the partitioning of the Frankish empire, the lands in which Slovene speakers lived were assigned to the German kingdom. As part of the defense of that kingdom against Magyar invaders, they were divided among the marks, or border marches, of Carinthia, Carniola, and Styria. German lay and clerical lords arrived, along with dependent peasants, and enserfed the Slovenes, whom they called Wends or Winds. Over the next three centuries the marches came under the tenuous authority of several territorial dynasts. In the 13th century they fell to Otakar II of Bohemia, who, like Samo, tried to establish a Slavic empire. Following the defeat of Otakar in 1278, Styria was acquired by the Habsburg family. Carinthia and Carniola fell into Habsburg hands in 1335, Istria in 1374, and the city of Trieste in 1382. Habsburg rule was based on a bureaucracy that shared power with local noble-run estates. One of these was run by the counts of Celje, who were powerful in the Middle Ages but whose lineage died out in 1456. Modern Slovenes tend to view the coming of German rule as a national calamity, as it subjected the Alpine Slavs to steady pressure to Germanize. Nonetheless, it was from this time that they were included in the Western, or Roman Catholic, church. German episcopal and monastic foundations, along with local diocesan establishments, enriched and fructified the native Slavic culture with western European civilization. Indeed, the first missionaries to the area, arriving from Ireland in the 8th century, taught the Alpine Slavs to pray in their own tongue. The Freising Manuscripts, a collection of confessions and sermons dating from about AD 1000, are the earliest known document in what eventually became the Slovene language. The economy Drawing upon a long tradition of crafts, the modernization and diversification of the Slovene economy began in the late Habsburg era. Owing in part to this head start, Slovenia made great progress (at least by communist standards) under Yugoslavia's market-oriented, self-management form of socialism. With only 8 percent of Yugoslavia's population, Slovenes produced 20 percent of its wealth and 30 percent of its exports. By the 1980s, however, the system had succumbed to debt and stagnation, and resentment over the Belgrade government's policy of distributing subsidies from the more prosperous northern republics to the backward and often corrupt southern republics was probably the catalyst of Slovene independence. Yugoslavia's breakup deprived Slovenia of a secure market and caused economic dislocation as Slovene enterprises were forced to compete for business in a broader market at a time of worldwide recession. Intrinsic weaknesses of socially owned enterprises were exposed, including featherbedding, limited professional skills, poor competitiveness, undercapitalization, outmoded production methods, and resistance to innovation. Positive features included the modern infrastructure and Slovenia's traditionally strong social discipline. Development strategy calls for specialization, differentiation, internationalization, and investment in human resourcesprocesses that go hand in hand with privatization and encouragement of foreign investment. Agriculture Since it produces only 84 percent of its food requirements, Slovenia is not self-sufficient; however, progress in the agrarian sector has been immense. Archaic Slovene farming methods began to change in the late 1700s with the introduction of modern crop rotation and new plants such as potatoes, corn (maize), beans, and alfalfa, putting an end to the previous cycle of famines. By the mid-20th century, dairy and meat products dominated agriculture, cereals having been largely abandoned. Under communism, private plots were limited to 25 acres (10 hectares), and expropriated lands were turned over to collective and state farms. The 250 social enterprises were linked to food processing. They proved efficient, especially in raising poultry and cattle, but operated at high cost. Privatization commenced in 1992. Lipizzaner stallion with white coat. Field crops make up slightly more than 40 percent of agricultural production, livestock almost 55 percent, and fruits and wine about 5 percent. Feed-based agriculture prevails in the Alpine-Subalpine region and the Karst. Subpannonia specializes in cereals and cattle, while root crops characterize Dolenjska, Gorenjska, the Sava-Mura floodplains, and Istria. Istria has olives and wine grapes as well, and fine wines are also made in other warmer areasfor example, along the border with Styria. Sheep and horse breedingwith the exception of a stud farm in Lipica, the original home of Vienna's celebrated Lipizzaner horses (see photograph)have declined greatly. Timber remains crucial to Slovene industry, but, owing to excessive felling in Slovene forests, wood must be imported. Forests have also been damaged by factory and motor vehicle emissions. The land Relief Slovenia is mostly elevated. Outside the coastal area, its terrain consists largely of karstic plateaus and ridges, magnificently precipitous Alpine peaks, and (between the elevated areas) valleys, basins, and arable or pastorally useful karstic poljes. Four main physiographic units may be distinguished. The first is the Alpine region, which takes up about two-fifths of Slovenia's surface area. In the northernmost reaches of this region, along the borders with Italy and Austria, are the High Alps, comprising the Kamnik and Savinja, the Karavanke (Karawanken), and the Julian chainsthe last including Slovenia's highest peak, Mount Triglav, at 9,396 feet (2,864 metres). In a vale beneath Triglav lie idyllic Lake Bohinj and, northeastward, Lake Bled. Slightly lower than the High Alps is the Subalpine ridge-and-valley terrain. The main Subalpine range is the Pohorje, located between the Sava and Drava rivers. The historical name for the central Alpine lands is Gorenjska, or Upper Carniolaa name that Slovenes still use; in addition, they still refer to the Meza River valley as Koroka (Carinthia, or Krnten). On Gorenjska's southern edge is the spacious Ljubljana basin, which contains the capital as well as the industrial city of Kranj. The next largest region (occupying one-fifth of Slovenia's surface) is populous Subpannonia, which descends from the base of the Alpine-Subalpine region into the valleys of the Sava, Drava, and Mura rivers. Its basins contain the cities of Maribor (on the Drava) and Celje (on the Savinja, a tributary of the Sava). Subpannonia corresponds to the lower part of the old Austrian duchy of Styria; Slovenes persist in calling their portion tajerska and share some traits with their Austrian neighbours. Beyond a saddle of hills known as the Slovenske Gorice or the Slovene Humpback is Prekmurje, a region drained by the Mura River that was ruled by Hungary until 1918. The main town here is Murska Sobota. In the southwestern part of the country, the Karst, a spur of the lengthy Dinaric Alps, is the third major region. Although it takes up one-quarter of the surface, it houses but a minute fraction of Slovenia's population, which clusters between the wooded limestone ridges in dry and blind valleys, hollows, and poljes. Caves and underground rivers are features of karst topography. Water is scarce: the northeastern segment is called the Suha Krajina, or Dry Countryside, and to the southeast lies the Bela Krajina, or White Countryside, a transitional belt pointing toward Subpannonia. Most of the region is known to Slovenes by its historic names, Dolenjska (Lower Carniola) and Notranjska (Inner Carniola). The word karst comes from the Kras Plateau above Trieste; scientific study of this type of terrain is a Slovene specialty, research having begun during the 18th century in Habsburg Carniola. The fourth principal region (occupying barely one-twelfth of Slovenia's surface) is the Slovene Littoral, or Submediterranean Slovenia. Overlapping the ancient region of Primorje (known to Slovenes as Primorska, Territory Near the Sea), it is made up of Slovenia's portion of the Istrian Peninsula and is the natural hinterland of Trieste. The 29-mile (47-kilometre) strip of coast, with its lovely, Venetian-flavoured towns and beaches, is Slovenia's riviera. The city of Koper (just south of Trieste and known to Italians as Capodistria) is Slovenia's sole major port. Drainage Most of Slovenia's intricate fluvial network is directed toward the Danube River. The Sava, originating in the Julian Alps, flows past Ljubljana toward Croatia; its narrow valley serves as a road and rail conduit to Zagreb and eventually Belgrade, in Serbia. The Drava enters Slovenia from Austrian Carinthia and the Mura from Styria; they meet in Croatia and, like the Sava, ultimately reach the Danube. In the west, the Soca originates beneath Mount Triglav and, after a precipitous course, reaches the Gulf of Venice on Italian territory, where it is known as the Isonzo. The relatively steep gradients of Slovenia's topography create fast runoff, which in turn assures most of Slovenia copious water and hydroelectric resources. On the other hand, it also washes away valuable soil nutrients. Pollution remains a problem. The people Ethnic composition More than 90 percent of Slovenia's people are ethnically Slovene. German speakers, who formed the elite during the Habsburg era, vanished entirely after World War II. The 1954 agreement over Trieste has left a few thousand Italian speakers in Istria, and Prekmurje has a small Hungarian minority. (These autochthonous Italians and Magyars enjoy legally guaranteed rights, including parliamentary representation.) The disintegration of Yugoslavia has brought numerous immigrants from other former Yugoslav republics; there are also a few Albanians and Gypsies. Integration of these people, who come from cultures with differing value systems, attitudes, and political traditions, poses a difficult problem. Despite linguistic kinship with people from the Balkan Peninsula, the Slovenes are culturally an Alpine folk who have more in common with northern Italians, southern Germans, and the Swiss. Language Slovene is a South Slavic language, along with Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, and Bulgarian, but it also has affinities to West Slavic Czech and Slovak. Eastern Slovene dialects blend with Kajkavian forms of Serbo-Croatian, but literary Slovene is remote from its Serbo-Croatian counterparts. Loan words from German, Italian, Friulian, and Hungarian speech can be heard. In addition, there are marked differences among the 47 dialects and standard Slovene, which is derived from two Carniolan speech variants.